


Another's Arms

by Junia



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: 5x06, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Minor Becho, and how Clarke would react, she gets the validation she deserves here!!!, the what if spacekru actually left with echo AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 08:58:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14891555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junia/pseuds/Junia
Summary: „I have to talk to you,“ he cut in, brisk and she had to frown. „We‘re leaving.“Her head snapped up. „Leaving?“ she echoed and felt her throat closing up.-506 canon divergent au where Bellamy ~ insists ~ on Spacekru leaving with Echo for her banishment and Clarke finds out.





	Another's Arms

**Author's Note:**

> This is me trying to fix the shitshow that 506 was, insert picture of a band-aid on a huge ass crack in the wall here.

Clarke sighed, watching Madi disappear into their tent to get some rest. Things right now were chaotic, downright a mess, but giving her at least somewhat of the routine they used to have perhaps would help. She turned around and spotted Bellamy who caught her eyes immediately and started walking towards her.

Her back tensed involuntarily. Things with Bellamy… had been _not normal_ as well. But what even was normal after not seeing someone for six years?

„Is Madi okay?“ he asked as soon as he reached her, even though his gaze traveled over her like he was asking a completely different question.

„She‘s fine. It‘s just been a crazy couple of days and —"

„I have to talk to you,“ he cut in, brisk and she had to frown. „We‘re leaving.“

Her head snapped up. „Leaving?“ she echoed and felt her throat closing up. Clarke knew what leaving meant, what it probably meant _here_ but the words felt so foreign out of his mouth, so heavy and defining.

„Yeah, Octavia —" He shook his head. „— she refuses to let Echo stay, so we‘re all leaving with her. I don‘t really know where we‘ll go but maybe we can work something out with Diyoza.“

„You‘re all leaving,“ Clarke repeated quietly, more to herself than to anyone else. The miserable loneliness of her first months alone crept up her spine and wrapped around her heart in its full force.

Bellamy‘s voice pulled her back into reality. „I don‘t know what happened to her, Clarke.“ A sigh left him as he scrubbed a hand across his jaw. „She‘s so — that is not my sister. Echo wouldn‘t survive if she had to be alone out there in the wasteland, but Octavia doesn't even care.“

„Can you blame her? The last time she saw her Echo almost killed her. _Twice_.“

For the first time Bellamy showed a reaction to her, brows shooting up on his forehead. „But it was six years ago. She‘s changed now. We all are.“

„Yeah I can see that,“ Clarke said, nodding. „You all leave again, and I get left here. Maybe we‘re not so different after all.“

Bellamy blinked. „Clarke — that’s not —“

“Never mind,” she said, taking a step back, and shook her head. “Go. You’re right that it’s not safe here for Echo.”

He didn’t go. 

“No. Jesus Clarke, you can‘t just say shit like that and then drop the subject. You think we are leaving you behind? That _I_ am?“

His intense stare didn‘t falter but it made her shy away. She swallowed and glanced to the side before letting out a sigh. „You just came and told me you‘re leaving. What am I supposed to think, Bellamy?“

„I‘m not —" He opened and closed his mouth. Then, „I thought the wasteland wouldn‘t be a safe place for you and Madi. You already lost your home, I didn‘t want you to lose this, too, because of us.“

 _If you leave, I would lose my home, too_ , she thought with a painful realization, but didn‘t voice it. Too much was changed. Clearly this sentiment was one sided. Instead she gave him a shrug, her brows knitted in a frustrated frown. „I survived in the dead zone for a long time. Believe me when I say that it wouldn‘t have been that different for us.“

And then she saw something flicker in his eyes at the words, something huge and strong, but buried so deep that he was able to hide it behind a sigh and a scowl.

„Right. You were — I‘m sorry.“

„Doesn't matter. Anyway, I hope you… all take care of each other. Stay north, it rains more often in the north. Use buckets to collect water —"

„Clarke, don‘t do this.“

„Do what?!“ she snapped, losing the temper she had been clinging to for the last five minutes. 

„Pretend that you‘re okay, when you‘re not! I‘m sorry I didn‘t ask you, like I said I thought it would be better that way.“

„And I said it doesn‘t matter anymore. It‘s fine, Bellamy.“

His brows furrowed. „But is it?“

„What do you mean?“

„Is it better that way?“ he demanded. „I mean you and Madi coming with us. Would you do that?“

The answer was so easy, so natural in her eyes that the fact that Bellamy even asked made her unbelievably mad. But worst of all, it hurt. It hurt more than getting tortured by her chipped mother, or living with radiation burns for a month, or walking into a rabbit trap. It hurt because a lifetime ago it wouldn‘t have been a question for Bellamy either.

Clarke‘s jaw trembled when she stared at him. „Yeah, Bellamy. I would have. But you didn‘t ask, so I‘m not going to answer now.“

He took a step closer. „I am asking now.“

„After I pointed it out,“ she said and crossed her arms. „Clearly you have your own priorities now. It‘s okay, though. I get it.“

„They‘re my family,“ Bellamy said quietly and she had to close her eyes for a moment.  _They_. Not her. They. His hand on her arm forced her gaze back to him. „But you are, too, Clarke. You‘re my priority, too. You and Madi.“

„Not like that,“ she muttered.

„Yes, like that.“

„No,“ she continued before taking a step back. His proximity always managed to make her a little dizzy.

„Come on, Clarke. Yes —"

„You wanted to _leave_ , Bellamy. Just like that, and you didn‘t even bother to ask if I would go with you. You —” She shook her head, trying to word the hundreds of tiny details she had noticed in the last few days, but maybe it was just her. Maybe Bellamy hadn't even noticed her absence. 

„There was a lot going in the last few days, you know that. I didn’t even see you most of the time, but jesus —”

And there it was. Clarke felt her walls crumble, piece by peace. He didn't understand. „Forget it, all of this.“ She sent him one last look and turned around, ready to leave this conversation. But Bellamy followed.

„Come on, Clarke. Let‘s talk this out,“ he said as he tried to catch up and match the fast and longs steps she took through the ruins of Polis.

„Nothing to talk about here.“

„Bullshit.“

Clarke champed with anger but didn‘t slow down.

„Don‘t do the thing where you run away again.“

That made her halt in her steps and whirl around in anger. „ _I‘_ m running?“ She jabbed a finger in his direction. „ _You_ are the one leaving right now. And as far as I can remember you were the one who left six years ago as well.“

It was cruel, and not fair, but right now Clarke wanted him to feel the same way she did when he accused her of running away. It worked.

„You think it was easy for me to do that, Clarke?! Do you honestly think I wanted that?“

„I didn‘t say that.“

„But you meant it like that,“ he exclaimed. „Newsflash, it wasn‘t. It was the hardest choice I had ever have to make!“

„I know, Bellamy —„

„Do you? Why did you say it then?“

„Oh, _believe me_ when I say I know,“ Clarke spat back, taking a step towards him as her hands balled into fists. „I was alone for months down here. I spent six years waiting for you to come back.“

„I thought you were _dead_ , Clarke! I — I thought that I had left you behind to die…“ His voice broke off at the end, and Clarke tried to repress the urge to reach out and pull him into her arms, promise him that it had never been this fault. But she couldn‘t. Not here in the middle of Polis where people were already eyeing them warily. Not now because that wasn‘t her place anymore.

„Then shouldn’t you understand why I‘m a little upset that you want to leave?“

„Octavia leaves me no choice. It‘s Echo and…“

And Echo is more important right now, no matter what they had or didn‘t have six years ago. Right. Clarke nodded and looked at her feet.

„Yeah.“

„You can still come with us.“

The offer simply didn‘t feel genuine, not after this conversation. Besides none of the others had bothered to talk to her either so perhaps they wanted to be on their own like on the ring.

„Maybe you were right,“ she shrugged weakly and tried to give off an convincing expression. „Madi and me have a home, and it‘s neither here nor in the dead zone.“

Bellamy‘s brows knitted into a frown. „You wanna defect?“

„I want Madi to be safe,“ Clarke corrected.

„Octavia will kill you both if she finds out — and Diyoza will kill you, too!“

„At least Madi would be safe there with my mom, instead of a gladiator cult and _bloodreina_ that would probably even see a child as a threat.“

„So you‘re just willing to risk your life?“ he asked, but she was already shaking her head.

„I‘m not asking you, Bellamy. That‘s how we do things now, don‘t we?“

He was about to reply when Monty appeared next to him. It still felt strange to see the people that she had been talking and dreaming up for the last six years right in front of her, and all the more painful when those people were ready to leave her all over again.

„We‘re ready. We can leave at first light,“ Monty quietly informed Bellamy.

„I hope you guys find something,“ she muttered before turning around and hurrying back to her tent. Clarke had thought about defecting before, but so far nobody knew about Madi‘s real nightblood. (And she had assumed Bellamy would never leave his sister‘s side.) But now that she had brought it up, it made sense. She could work something out with Diyoza. They needed a doctor and even though she wasn‘t as good as her mother, she could still prove herself useful. Hell, she would even give them information on _Bloodreina_ if that meant keeping Madi safe.

Madi stirred while Clarke was throwing their things into her backpacks.

„Clarke?“ she asked, voice sleepy. „What‘s going on?“

„We‘re leaving.“

Madi sat up and stared at her with wide, scared eyes. „Did someone find out about me?“

„No,“ she said after turning to her and placing her hands on her shoulder. Her own mother had used to do that when she was little. „And I don‘t intend them to. It‘s just not safe here, okay? Pack your bag, don‘t talk to anyone except me.“

„But what about Bellamy? And your friends?“

Clarke turned to the rations in the corner of her tent and picked them up. „Bellamy‘s going away. He has to protect someone he cares about, too.“

After her initial confusion Madi started packing her things as well and soon they were both ready to go. Clarke had already heard about some people that were planning to take the offer, she hoped they would be able to join them now.

But when she stepped out of the tenth she ran straight into Bellamy who immediately grabbed her arm and started pulling her after her.

„Bellamy, I don‘t have much time,“ she hissed, yanking herself free. Looking behind her she realized that Monty and Harper were here, too, encircling Madi. „What is this?“

„We‘re all leaving together,“ was all Bellamy said before forcing her to follow him through a dark alley.

„Another plan I wasn‘t involved in? No thanks.“

„Jesus, would you stop hating me for a second and think about yourself?“ he hissed back. Clarke glared at his back, and hid the sharp pang of hurt striking her at his words. As if she could ever hate him. As if she hadn‘t spent years _loving_ him.

She found Madi‘s hand instead and they all walked through a tattered path in silence that lead to the ruins of a half standing house. When she entered she saw Echo waiting inside, the hand on her sword falling as soon as she saw that it was them.

„Would you care to explain why you brought us here?“ she asked once everyone was inside. She remained close to the entrance, a hand on Madi‘s shoulder who looked more excited than anxious.

„It‘s a stupid plan to take Diyoza‘s offer,“ Bellamy said.

Clarke raised a brow. „Oh, so you thought of a different stupid plan to replace that one?“

„It‘s not stupid,“ Monty mixed in. „We all leave tomorrow morning, and we all try to go back to Eden ourselves. Octavia will punish the traitors, but since she banished Echo… she can‘t punish us for her own order.“

„And once we‘re there, you want to — what? — make peace with Diyoza even though she wants Octavia‘s head on a plate?“

„I‘ll think of something,“ Bellamy said. „Murphy said we have a friend there. Raven‘s probably working on him at the moment.“

„We find him, Emori, Raven, deal with Eligius and get you back home, Clarke,“ Harper summarized and offered her an assuring smile.

„This is all based on speculation,“ she pointed out dryly. It managed to get a half smile out of Bellamy, and even though she was still annoyed, her heart twitched funnily

„You know us, when did we ever have a solid plan?“

„Come on, Clarke. This is the better option than defecting,“ Monty added.

He was right.

„Besides, you know the terrain,“ Echo said. „You‘re our best shot at survival. We need you.“

 The echoes of those words from her past sneaked into her brain and confused her for a moment. She quickly shook them off, though, and looked at the people around the room. “Fine.” Clarke glanced to her side and gave Madi a smile that she returned. “Let’s get home then. Right, Madi?”

“Osir ste komba raun houm,” Madi agreed. _We are coming home._

 

* * *

 

Clarke found herself in the back of the rover when they headed out the next morning. Madi insisted on driving and wanted Harper as her shotgun to hear the rest of the story about “the self made bomb in Azgeda”. Harper seemed to be her favorite out of the group anyway. It was a lot better than having Octavia as a role model, so Clarke wasn’t complaining.

Monty was sitting next to her while Bellamy and Echo were across from them, exchanging occasional hushed words that Clarke purposefully tried to miss. It was stupid. That’s why Clarke got out her journal and started skimming through it, keeping her eyes pointedly trained on the rough pages. She stopped at a drawing of their small village in early summer. If they were lucky, she and Madi would get to see this very soon.

“Is that it?” Monty suddenly asked, finger touching the page.

Clarke nodded slowly and pressed out a small smile. “It had been Madi’s village before Praimfaya, Louwoda Kliron Kru.”

“Shallow Valley,” he translated.

“Someone’s been taking trig lessons,” Clarke teased with a grin.

“Yeah, Emori and Echo were hard at work up there.” At the mention of her name Echo looked at them and Clarke gave her a brief nod, something like a thank you perhaps, before focusing back on Monty. “Clarke,” he added then, more serious. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked.

His shoulder shrugged. “You did so much for us. Every damn time, it was you who always saved us and then --” He let out something like a bitter smile. “- you saved us again.”

“It wasn’t just me,” Clarke said, pressing her fingers against the leather of the journal, trying to cool her nerves. “It was always a team sport.”

“But without you we’d all be long dead.” To her surprise Monty’s hand reached out and squeezed her own for a moment, but it made her feel better anyway.

“I missed you guys.”

“You have no idea how much _we_ missed you,” he said, shaking his head. It felt like there was more behind his words, but he went on, “You should’ve been up with us on the ring, Clarke. Everything would have been so much different.”

Clarke thought about the sentence and instinctively glanced over to Bellamy. But for some reasons his eyes had already been on her. They locked gazes for a matter of seconds before he looked away and she did too, a frown settling on her temple. _Yeah, everything would be so much different._

It already was.

“I had Madi,” she said though, voice wavering ever so slightly. “And better food.”

“Maybe we should have been down here with you then.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

After a couple of hours they reached shallow valley. It was a big valley, so the chances that they would immediately come across Diyoza or any of her henchmen weren’t that high. However, Clarke was certain they would find them eventually.

“Where did you leave Murphy and Emori?” Bellamy asked as Madi drove them through the outskirts of the woods.

“Near the bear cave,” Madi answered for the others and pushed down on the pedal.

“Easy,” Clarke warned. “You don’t wanna overrun a poor squirrel.”

“Sorry!”

“You guys think they’re still there?” Harper wondered.

Monty made a face. “That’s Murphy and Emori we’re talking about. They’re probably trying to save Raven with some wicked plan right now.”

“At least they’re talking again,” Bellamy murmured and got a huff of agreement from Echo. It made Clarke frown as she listened to her friend’s discussion. Last time she had seen the pair they were more than on talking terms, but apparently that had changed in those six years, too. But she didn’t even have to wonder because Madi decided to fill her in by blaring the information through the rover.

“They broke up, Clarke! Emori said he was the fool who lost the girl! I understand her, Murphy wasn’t very pleasant. He called me a hobbit.”

A few of them cracked smiles, and so did Clarke, even though she would have to have a talk with him one day. From what she remembered Murphy wasn’t the very best with children.

They parked at the bear cave before getting out and deciding what to do. It was pretty clear that they had to go Diyoza whether it was to get Raven, get home, or find her mother. The question was if the leader of Eligius would even let them come anywhere close without shooting each of them. They decided to take the risk.

Madi got sucked into another story by Harper and Monty — one about Jasper’s antics in Mount Weather — which left Clarke only with Bellamy and Echo. And she didn’t want that. Even seeing them so close all the time, exchanging glances or touches, made it a little harder to swallow. Clarke hated this feelings, hated it with every fiber of her being but in the end she awkwardly put some distance between her and them and trailed awkwardly after the group.

They had been walking for over twenty minutes, Clarke lost in thoughts about possible outcomes of this situation when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” Bellamy quickly apologized and removed his hand. She missed the weight of it immediately. “You okay?”

Clarke wasn’t sure what to say except yes, so she only gave him an awkward nod as she focused on the path in front of her.

“Then why are you not talking to me?”

“What?” She scowled at him. “I’m doing that right now.”

“You know what I mean. This is the first thing you said to me today,” he told her. “I feel like you’ve been avoiding me lately.”

“This isn’t — I’m not avoiding you, Bellamy.”

“You’d have to actually look at me to be at least somewhat convincing.”

Suddenly feeling a flash of annoyance and irritation in her blood, she sent him a glare. “I don’t have to be convincing because it’s the truth. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She felt Bellamy throw her a look but Clarke didn’t bother to look at him again. Instead she wondered why he was talking, or attempting to, with her when Echo was right there, couple of feet ahead of them.

After a few moments he sighed and slowly said, “I’m sorry, Clarke.”

She shook her head with a sigh. “You guys have to be more specific every time you tell me that you’re sorry.” Her eyes flickered over to him and she thought she saw something like a smile there, although his expression turned serious again very soon.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t ask you from the beginning,” he said eventually.

“You don’t have to ask me anything,” Clarke said quietly and shrugged. “I was stressed, I overreacted.”

“No, it was a legitimate issue. I don’t want you to feel like you don’t matter to us, because you do.” Clarke looked up to see his eyes on her, a soft expression gracing his features. She didn’t remember him being so soft and warm all the time. He had been hard around the edges, a constant fire burning in his soul, but his heart had been out of gold. It still was, she reminded herself.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t mean to be so rude —”

There was the familiar sound of the safety clicking off a gun. Before Clarke or Bellamy had any time to react, they were surrounded by five men, each of them training a gun on them.

“We’re not here to —” Bellamy started but got cut off by a gun pressing right against his temple. Clarke made an involuntary sound of protest at the sight.

“Quiet, or the next time I move, I squeeze the trigger,” the man snarled before pressing a button on his portable radio. “Colonel. We’ve got six outsiders, five miles outside the camp.” He paused, his eyes narrowing down on her. He pressed the button again. “If my eyes aren’t betraying me it’s that feisty blondie we already know. And the hostage taker.”

Even from her limited point of view Clarke could see the muscles in Bellamy’s eyes tick as he glared at the man who was waiting for an answer. The radio crackled and then Diyoza’s voice sounded.

“You’re saying you have Clarke and her boyfriend, Buttler?”

Clarke blinked at the term Diyoza had just used to describe Bellamy. _Boyfriend_. It wasn’t the most important matter right now, clearly they had more pressing issues like the guns aimed at their heads, or the downright excited hostility in the colonel’s voice. Still. 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. And four others. A kid.”

There was another static silence. Then. “Bring ‘em in. Let’s have an interrogation party round two, except this time we know exactly what will make them talk.”

**Author's Note:**

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